Anna Deavere Smith

Birthday

Sep 18, 1950

Birthplace

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Bio: Worked for an airline to support herself when she first moved to New York City. Interviewed more than 50peoplefrom Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood about their experiences to create her 1992 one-woman show Fires in the Mirror. Portrays cyclist Lance Armstrong as one of the characters in her stage show Let Me Down Easy. Has taughtat academic institutions… MoreBio: Worked for an airline to support herself when she first moved to New York City. Interviewed more than 50peoplefrom Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood about their experiences to create her 1992 one-woman show Fires in the Mirror. Portrays cyclist Lance Armstrong as one of the characters in her stage show Let Me Down Easy. Has taughtat academic institutions includingNew York University, Yale University, the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, and as a tenured professor at Stanford University. Has been an Artist in Residenceforthe Ford Foundation, MTV Networks, the Aspen Institute, the Center for American Progress, and Grace Cathedral. Has received honorary degrees from academicinstitutions including theJuilliard School; the School of Visual Arts, University of Pennsylvania; Wesleyan College; andBryn Mawr College.